Mayor: Alive @ 5 concert changes likely

Budget cuts forcing Albany to eye fewer concert dates

By Steve Barnes

Updated 10:03 pm, Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Music fans cheer for George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic during Alive at Five on Thursday, June 27, 2013, at Riverfront Park in Albany, N.Y. (Cindy Schultz / Times Union)

Music fans cheer for George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic...

Music fans cheer on George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic during Alive at Five on Thursday, June 27, 2013, at Riverfront Park in Albany, N.Y. (Cindy Schultz / Times Union)

Music fans cheer on George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic during...

George Clinton, center, joined by the Tulip Queen and her court, takes in the moment with Parliament-Funkadelic during Alive at Five on Thursday, June 27, 2013, at Riverfront Park in Albany, N.Y. (Cindy Schultz / Times Union)

George Clinton, center, joined by the Tulip Queen and her court,...

Friends Mike Stewart of Rensselaer, left, and Colleen Mayo of Cohoes dance to the music of The Tom Healey Band during Alive at Five on Thursday, July 25, 2013, at Jennings Landing in Albany, N.Y. (Cindy Schultz / Times Union)

Friends Mike Stewart of Rensselaer, left, and Colleen Mayo of...

Band leader Tom Healey, right, performs with The Tom Healey Band during Alive at Five on Thursday, July 25, 2013, at Jennings Landing in Albany, N.Y. (Cindy Schultz / Times Union)

Band leader Tom Healey, right, performs with The Tom Healey Band...

Starship featuring Mickey Thomas performed Thursday night, July 18, 2013, during the Alive at Five performance in Albany, N.Y. (Ben Goldman/Times Union)

Budget cuts are forcing the administration of the city's new mayor, Kathy Sheehan, to consider changing and likely shortening the city's popular Alive at 5 concert series.

Although income from underwriters, sponsors and other sources historically has enabled the series to pay for itself, Sheehan said fiscal realities forced her to trim the Alive at 5 budget by 20 percent, to $205,000. One of the ways to achieve those savings would be to present eight concerts next summer instead of the 10 on the slate in recent years. (There were nine last year because the July 4 holiday fell on a Thursday, when Alive at 5 is held.) "We're working with the (city's) special events office to see what we can do," Sheehan said Tuesday. "We're still going to bring in some relatively high-quality acts."

Even if the season is two weeks shorter, Sheehan said, she has made it a priority to improve the experience of those who attend by adding components.

"The question is, How do we get people to stay after Alive at 5?" she said. Among the ideas under consideration, none yet finalized, are setting up vendors, food trucks and other attractions in the area on Broadway near the west end of the pedestrian walkway over I-787 or in the park across the street.

A North Pearl Street block party, organized for four years by the street's bars and held after Alive at 5 concerts ended, did not take place last year but could be revived this summer, said Mike Philip, owner of The Hollow Bar & Kitchen (formerly the Bayou Cafe) on North Pearl. Philip was involved with the block party when he was general manager of the now-closed Jillian's.

"The city didn't seem as receptive to us doing it last year," Philip said. "This year, with a new mayor and some new people to work with, it's definitely something we'll look at getting into again."

Melli Rose, director of the city's Office of Special Events, which runs Alive at 5, said she has no firm offerings to reveal now but is in talks with the Downtown Business Improvement District, city arts organizations, restaurants and other businesses about ways to cross-promote Thursday-night entertainment offerings in Albany.

Sheehan took office at the beginning of the year facing a $10 million budget deficit.